FIA arrests nine in crackdown on mobile phone loan offering apps
Last updated on: 14 July,2023 05:59 pm
The FIA DG ordered the Cybercrime Wing to investigate and arrest the accused involved in the case
ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – The Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday captured nine suspects and registered a case against 19 others for allegedly blackmailing citizens through loan offering mobile applications (apps).
The agency launched investigation against mobile phone applications (apps) offering online loans after an unemployed man committed suicide on failing to pay interest on a loan he took from an app.
It is reported that the man, who lived in Rawalpindi, was allegedly blackmailed by the operator of the online app.
FIA Director General Mohsin Hasan Butt took notice of the incident and ordered the Cybercrime Wing to investigate and arrest the suspects involved in the case.
The FIA team raided G-8 sector and sealed two offices, took into custody laptops and other material and decided to block its online advertisement. The FIA also reportedly sought details of the app company from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
An FIA official said the Cybercrime Circle had already started an investigation on the request of the relatives of the victim.
The FIA is also collecting the record of the calls and emails sent by the app company to the victim, Muhammad Masood, who died by suicide in the wake of the unbearable pressure inflicted by online loan sharks.
Masood case
A resident of Rawalpindi, Masood had borrowed Rs13,000 through an online application to pay for his children's school fees and house rent. However, he found himself unable to pay the loan back with the accumulating interest which reportedly escalated.
Masood was unable to pay back to his lenders and following threats decided to hang himself by a fan leaving his two sons orphaned at a tender age.
His wife said that the reason behind her husband's death was the debt he incurred via the online loan-lending application. He lost job six months ago. Muzammil has filed an application with the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) cybercrime wing to ensure justice is served for his brother and his family's sake.
"My husband got stuck in the mire of debt and became a victim of mental agony," his wife said in the video. Masood advised his wife to keep his mobile phone switched off for at least a month.
She shared that her husband was harassed just a week after taking a loan worth Rs13,000 from the online company and the amount increased to Rs50,000 with interest.
"A week later online companies made life miserable," she alleged.
The representatives of the online companies started blackmailing and threatening. Online companies also threatened to leak personal data from mobile phones, she added.